


Reflection, Pt2

by Dressari



Series: Distant Worlds [22]
Category: Creators Keepers of Mana, Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures, Furry (Fandom)
Genre: CKoM, DMFA - Freeform, Elements, Furrae, Mana - Freeform, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 04:11:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11592660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dressari/pseuds/Dressari
Summary: Quintess learns a little about the largest talk of the Academy, although her over eagerness might seem to get the better of her much to Aaryanna's thinning patience.Fa'Lina pays her own visit to a friend to ensure a very important delivery had arrived safely.





	Reflection, Pt2

“Okay, first off, it wasn't minor, it was sexual harassment from my view. If Fa'Lina didn't want me to throw the kid across the room, she would've stopped me.” he countered sternly, glancing up to the taller creature. Adrian already had the pleasure of finding out just how quick Fa'Lina could respond to situations that developed. AND not to mention she could determine what happened before it occurred. It made him envious, wishing he could do the same.

Nodding in agreement Quintess added, “Oh I agree with what you did. I did not mean to demean the transgression as nothing to take notice of. But there have been worse things to happen at the academy.” she explained peering into one of the rooms as they passed.

“...How... much worse are we talking here?” asked a worried Adrian, but then just as Quintess was about to answer he held a hand up and looked away. “You know what I don't want to know... I imagine not even Fa'Lina can be everywhere and prevent everything from happening.”

“Just don't remind Fa'Lina that.” mentioned Aaryanna pressing past the two as they came to the junction she saw earlier in her first examination of the area. The corridors all looked the same, unlike the Academy; where was the sense of fashion or homely feeling she wondered. “So what was your second point Adrian? You said 'first off' after all.” she reminded.

“I don't hold grudges or follow stereotypes, I judge by individual actions.” answered Adrian tapping Aaryanna on the shoulder and directing her down one of the corridors. Another one of the drones passed them in its patrol. “I see people who make choices. Not everyone in a group or race should be held by the same narrow-minded view. There can be exceptions. I may have a problem with Feren, currently. But unless his clan gives me a reason, I don't have a problem with them.”

How open minded of him! Thought Quintess beaming inwardly with delight, she knew she was going to like Adrian from the moment she heard about him from the other tutors. Especially Blaze whom had been especially positive, even after the injury she suffered at his hands during the confusion with the Hollows. It was no wonder Fa'Lina offered him a teaching position at the Academy, though the details of his class had been kept secret for the time being.

Tapping a finger under her chin Quintess asked, “So, that term you keep using, what does it mean?”

“What one?”

“People.”

Adrian raised a puzzled eyebrow, “People? It means... well, you, me, everyone, people.” he replied motioning his hands out in a circle to encompass himself and the two ladies. “It's a catch all phrase to reference a group of men and women collectively.” Unfortunately the two female Cubi provided a blank confused stare. “You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?”

“Actually,” began Aaryanna, folding her arms and leaning slightly to one side as they walked, “Man and Woman, are terms, but only in referencing to you hum- Sorry, humans in general. And you know the story behind that race.” she explained glancing off to one side trying to avert any more awkward stares.

“It's just unusual for someone to refer to US as people, or women even,” chuckled Quintess patting herself on the shoulders to emphasise her point. She wasn't offended but it was very strange that someone used such archaic terms for a race that no longer existed. “I guess it's just habit for you from your time and age on Furrae.”

“Earth.”

Quintess blinked, “Earth?”

Adrian nodded, “We called it Earth back in my day.”

“I see,” hummed the lamia, “Well, I guess I was right Aaryanna,” grinned Quintess suddenly.

Aaryanna let out a groan, “What about?” she sighed.

“Adrian DOES have a very old accent.” teased Quintess.

“That's not-! That isn't the same thing and you know it!” complained Aaryanna. Sure Adrian had an accent of sorts, it was very unlike anything else. However, “You were assuming he spoke with an old DIALECT, not accent.” she accused with a point, pushing her arm past Adrian's face. The Lamia blew a playful rasp knowing she was in the wrong but quite happily teased the other Cubi anyway. “Ugh!” she grunted.

“Art thee getting a dram heat'd aaryanna? “ faked Adrian with a very old English accent, knowing it didn't fit well with his homeland tone. He smirked continuing to walk the halls, “Alloweth not the lamia placeth thou und'r foot too easily shalt thee?”

His words baffled and silenced the two bickering Cubi, at first, until Aaryanna couldn't help but let a smirk form and then chuckle as the horrendous attempt. She laughed, “Haha, I have no idea what you were trying to say Adrian but it was horrible.” The Creator shrugged off showing he wasn't even serious himself and likely something he just made up. “Hehe, heaven forbid if that was what your time DID sound like. I doubt I would be able to take you seriously.”

Quintess, stifling a chuckle herself, nodded in agreement, “I'll say, it's a very embellished language. I prefer you this clear and concise in that case.” she said. Her head turned as they passed what was a very large window, curious to what was on the other side. Then stopped suddenly as her eyes grew wide with amazement to the contents of the extremely large room. “Woaaaahhhh, what... is that thing?” she gasped pressing a hand against the glass.

Stored inside the huge room were two large mechanised objects: One was very flat and sat low to the ground but took up a large area of space, it appeared to have wings of sorts. The second was the opposite and sat much taller yet occupied only a small area of space, it appeared very bipedal-like, even in its hunched form. Both were made of Elevas, yet one could determine all the separate pieces that made up each construct.

“Oh those, you've never seen a jet fighter before?” asked Adrian motioning to the flatter one on the right. He then motioned to the other construct, “And that one is called a-”

“A gryphon mech?” jumped in Aaryanna realising it had looked similar to one some of the movies and TV shows she sometimes watched.

Adrian raised an eyebrow, “Uh... no, well, yeah it's a mech of sorts but...” he said and scratched the back of his head briefly. “So you don't know what a jet plane is, but you guys have mechs?” he asked dumbfounded. The girls looked back strangely shrugging their shoulders in turn, “Egh, Furrae really does have some strange jumps in technology.”

“Only in media shows,” admitted Aaryanna waving a hand in the air with a half shrug of the same shoulder. “They don't actually exist it's all science-fiction crap.” She then looked at the mech long and hard, scratching the undersides of her folded arms, “Although, it's not exactly fiction any more if you have one.”

“It's actually called a MAC, Mobile Armoured Combat suit.” said Adrian turning back down the corridor and walking on again, he motioned for the Cubi to follow. “I'm hoping Fa'Lina will allow me to transfer them to the fields around the Academy, I'm not comfortable leaving them here unattended.”

“Are they dangerous?” inquired Quintess finding it hard to drag her eyes away from the beautiful designs, Elevas was certainly as pretty as it were mysterious. She gave a short chase to catch up with the others once she could no longer view them.

Adrian shook his head, “Currently neither of them are functioning, the power cells are cracked and many of their systems are in need of an overhaul. But I'm not about to risk someone stumbling else upon them.” he explained leading his friends into a new room.

The girls took stock of their new surroundings; aside from the mess they appeared to be in an office. Computers, storage cabinets, shelves and a large screen decorated this modest room. It appeared more functional than anyone's common home, not like their boss's office at the Academy. Many of the containers were already packed up into boxes and bags, while a few items were still scattered around.

Adrian walked past the main desk and slipped his hand across one of the two cubed objects that rested atop it. Both of the boxes held curved corners and were no larger than a shoe box, a pair of indentations were cut into the circumference and several glowing panels lit up the top of each. They were identical in every way save for one held a yellow and brown glow nestled in the indents, while the other held a red and beige colouring. Keeping his hand on one, Adrian sat himself in the only chair left in the office.

Silence rested in the room while he stroked the surface of the unit, an object he had yet to identify even the purpose of. There were no manuals, no notes or even records of these particular Elevas devices that he had found thus far. And finding an answer was perhaps going to be a challenge in itself; there was so much left to him, left behind in the things he had discovered. Heirlooms, gifts, journals, data, weapons, software, hardware... the list went on and on. He watched as his two guests examined a few of the left over items scattered around.

“It's almost like looking through a time capsule.” murmured Adrian, slouching himself into the contours of the chair, his fingers slipped from the device's surface and to the chair arm. “I missed so much, so much time just gone. Everything that's here are just foot notes now.” he lamented.

Quintess exchanged a look with Aaryanna across the room, both of them sensed the onset of sorrow that emanated strongly. It gave the sense he accepted this fate, this situation, but his heart was still stuck in the past. It brought a question to mind and the lamia slowly slid up to him curling around the desk so she remained at his eye level, “Adrian, may I ask, just how old are you?” she asked.

Adrian made a slow blink before directing his eyes directly towards her, he saw the gentle unease she held in asking a sensitive question. After all when you slept through two hundred millenniums, what did time mean anymore. “If you mean how many years have I had lived before being frozen, Quin.” he concluded as the real meaning of the question, “I am in fact twenty-eight years old.”

Quintess's jaw dropped slightly but quickly went back into place, she had expected a much larger number. “I-I see...” she stammered awkwardly, “You are... so much younger than expected. You've barely had the chance to really experience life.”

“Well that explains your emotional state,” remarked Aaryanna leaning herself against a low hanging shelf, a piece of décor in hand as she examined the craftsmanship of the pot. “You don't even know what it's like to outlive your friends. And now you won't.” she said bluntly then became startled as Quintess darted into her face with a disapproving look.

“Don't be so insensitive Aaryanna!” chided Quintess poking at her chest.

Aaryanna pushed off the hand and set some distance between the two, “I'm not trying to be, Quin,” she defended, placing the pot back down before it broke. “I'm being honest. Can you imagine having a future torn away from you? Only to live another completely different one?” narrowing her eyes Aaryanna motioned out to Adrian whom appeared to ignore their bantering and manipulated a small computer in the mean time. “You were asking on the way here what it must've been like, well, take a good look you have the answer.” she told her with a disapproving glare of her own.

The purpled haired Cubi then folded her arms with a grunting sigh, while her companion glumly receded to the other side of the room again. Aaryanna approached Adrian at the desk and sat on its surface next to him. “Really, Adrian, you didn't seem the type to... dwell or lament so much. Just the other day you were so intent on stopping your father, now you just seem-”

“Did I really appear so stoic then, Aaryanna?”

“Well, yeah, you did.”

“It's funny how emotions work like that, how you can feel one, but show another. Or even push aside others at times of stress or duress. Or they can be misunderstood.” he explained directing his eyes directly to the blood-red ones that were Aaryanna's. He let on a smile, “I think you guys take your emotion reading with your thought reading for granted.”

“Excuse me?” questioned a puzzled Aaryanna.

“You're relying too much on trying to read my thoughts. And since you can't, you're taking guess at what my feelings may mean.” he replied, tapping a finger at his head. Although there had been only a few attempts at reading his thoughts likely out of a passive habit, rather than any direct attempts. “Cubi must get used to relying on both to try to understand how another feels.”

Aaryanna was actually impressed a little, he wasn't far from the truth of it and perhaps surprised herself in the process. When you were surrounded by Cubi even the best mind shields didn't always completely hide one's thoughts and experienced readers could often still glean something. This was not so much as the case with a Creator, the quietness of his mind was eerie to say the least.

“Ooh, already you're learning something about us, Adrian.” cooed Quintess coiling her body and using it as a seat. “It's true, perhaps some of us do become reliant, but you have to understand we have never met a creature- uh Being... um, what should we call you racial wise?” she suddenly pondered, realising that perhaps neither term represented a Creator.

“What do I look closest too?”

Both Aaryanna and Quintess spoke their reply, “Being.”

“Good enough.” waved Adrian.

“We've never met a Being whose mind can only be read by their permission,” continued Quintess finishing her previous train of thought. “It's an unusual occurrence, but I assure you we only tried to read your thoughts if it meant knowing how we can help better.”

“I believe you,” smiled Adrian but his expression soon faded again as he looked away to the nearby holographic screen. It displayed a journal entry listed from one of his old ISRU friends. Frankly he grew tired of reading though thousands of words, and was quite happy to be distracted by present company for a while. “I don't really know what I feel right now. I didn't ask for this, but I can't... -sigh- I can't simply turn my back on it and pretend this isn't what's happening.” he motioned up to the screen, “I'm just not looking forward to... catching up as it were, there's no telling how much my old friends and family left behind.”

Adrian reached for a control pad and used it to change the display to other items, flicking between more written works, photos, science and even technical manuals. He wasn't just left with things that meant a lot to him, he was pretty much left with whatever might have served him in the 'next world'.

“Oh, who were they Adrian?” pointed Quintess with an eager smile. Her eyes caught a glimpse of Adrian in what was a photo and hoped he would return the image to the screen. Her wish was granted and indeed it was the Creator, pictured with two other Beings both female. Immediately she felt an onset of pride and love emanate from Adrian as he smiled.

“Those are my sisters,” replied Adrian unable to contain his joy at seeing the picture, “The brown haired human is Kalie, and the blondish Vixen is Velicity. Those two girls and my daughter were my world.” his smile quickly faded again and was replaced with worry, “Were... keyword... I have no idea if they're still alive after all this time. I haven't found anything yet if they are.”

“You'd figure if they were Creators someone's heard about them, right?” presented Quintess.

“Quintess, if that was the case we would've known of Creators before Adrian... right?” debated Aaryanna but admittedly she wasn't even sure herself. One would think if such a powerful race existed in Furrae, even for this long somewhere out there had to have records of it.

“My sisters were not Creators,” remarked Adrian catching both of the girls attention quickly, “We had different mothers... but the same father.” he said, flicking the photo away to another stored piece of data. As much as he loved looking at his sisters, he didn't want to become too distracted by unneeded emotions. He leant onto an arm, “That would make them phoenixes, but... there's no telling how much of Dad's powers they received if anything. Perhaps none at all.”

“Did they not leave any idea at all?” asked Aaryanna pushing apart some papers on the desk.

“If they did... it's somewhere in all of this mess,” sighed Adrian sliding one of the papers closer.

Quintess rose from her coiled seat with an eager motion, “In that case, where can we begin to help?” she asked, stretching her arms.

\----

Some time passed as crate after crate and bag after bag were stacked up and teleported back to the Academy with the help of Elly and the Warp-Aci that came with the girls. Three pairs of hands helped to quicken the recovery of anything deemed useful and all the while Adrian would reduce particular Elevas items back to their original liquid state. It would still take some time before everything useful was completely cleared out from all the rooms.

Adrian did not provide too much direction, and appeared to allow them to sift though some of the contents of his past at their leisure. Alas he still remained distant for the most part, and rather than browse carefully he perused a quicker retreat with no desire to remain longer than they needed. Even as he assured them it was not because of the Cubi's presence, he merely wished to leave this place behind and never return again if possible.

 

⁂

 

Warmth permeated the room, a natural soothing heat that could bring balance to any cold or frigid area. This bout of warmth however did not emanate from any heater or geological source, but something much more unique. Seme, clan leader of broken dreams, stood before this warmth, a smile on her face as she looked on with motherly eyes. It had been a long time since anyone had asked her to take care of something so valuable. And guard it she would, like it was a member of her own clan, for even she held ties to this wondrous entity.

A familiar presence disturbed Seme's senses, a visitor to her sanctuary, “Welcome Fa'Lina,” she greeted the fellow clan leader delightedly as the poodle approached with a modest step. “I trust you are visiting to be sure it had arrived safely?” she asked her.

“Indeed,” replied Fa'Lina bearing a smile of her own as she approached with hands clasped before her body, she took a place next to Seme and looked on together. “I am pleased you agreed to this Seme, I could not keep this at the Academy hidden for long.”

Seme nodded, “I am more than happy to help, it is the least I can currently do for him.” she said.

“Just how do you know Adrian anyway?” asked Fa'Lina looking to the dull pink and deep red spotted leopardess. Seme was not usually one to be so mysterious, or even secretive. The silent reaction Seme shared upon first seeing Adrian's human appearance suggested she may know more than the leader was letting on.

A smile formed a the crook of Seme's lips and chortled quietly, “My, Fa'Lina, you sound jealous that I actually know something you do not for a change.” she teased.

“Oh-ho, hardly Seme.” chuckled Fa'Lina, “But, you do know something about Adrian don't you.”

“In time I will reveal, for now, you know as well as I do he shall need time to settle.” admitted Seme pulling a small white cloth from the folds of her tunic. She stepped to the object of their attention. A marble pedestal decorated with a red and gold cloth sat as the stand for a special giant egg. Wrapped in a white and pastel green blanket acting as its nest, this was no ordinary egg. Flame like grooves decorated the delicate shell in a circular spiral. Seme used the cloth to clean down the surface, brushing away a few of the tiny dead leaves that had landed atop it from the overhanging tree. “It is incredible of you Fa'Lina, to forgive Brelioro. Another Cubi may instead decide to destroy him while the chance remained.”

Fa'Lina ran a hand along the surface feeling the warmth, and the life that pulsed so very gently from the egg. There was no telling if this was the right decision or not, it was a great risk, especially so for Seme to take in her own home. But both were confident this was the right thing to do, “I believe in second chances. Regardless of the wounds he inflicted, it would not be right to simply end this without giving him a chance first.” she reflected, her thoughts trailed back to some of the pain she suffered. But she tempered it not with anger or hate, but with hope that things would different. Perhaps now they might be in time. She stepped away letting her hand slip slowly from the unique egg.

Seme reached around the egg with both hands, and pulled the blanket over the egg covering it completely from sight. “Do take care of Adrian, Fa'Lina, he can often be a trouble maker even when he does not mean to be.” giggled the leopardess.

Fa'Lina agreed, “Of that I have no doubt, the coming months will be interesting to say the least.” she said walking from the pedestal with Seme by her side. Already she could foresee some of the potential troubles yet to arrive, but potentially a good thing too. As much as order in life were desired, chaos, its reflective nature, one could not exist without the other.

Life would be very dull indeed if everything always went as planned. No one would learn, nothing would grow to be better; nor adapt to the ever-changing world. It would take time, a long time perhaps. But Fa'Lina held high confidence that her newest charge would adapt well given guidance, as would the residents of her Academy to him.

 

**...END**

 


End file.
